Summary

According to Marshall Brain in “Robotic Nation”, there is a huge problem result of the robotic revolution taking place in the USA which has been bringing deep modifications to the American economy.

Marshall states that scientists have been working hard to develop advanced technology, and every day new automated machines are coming up on our everyday world. Those machines have been gradually replacing humans on certain kinds of jobs, and increasing the unemployment level. For example, many cashiers lose their jobs with the implementation of new self-service check out in supermarkets; people do not need to interact with a human to operate one of those machines.

There are some steps for the “Robotic Revolution” take place in America according Marshall. The first one is the use of all common systems people make every day, such as self-service machines on gas stations which made unnecessary an attendant to fill up a fuel tank. Gradually, many people have been losing their jobs because of those automated machines. The second step was the creation of robots like humans. There were some issues to be solved like how to create robots with human sensors; however with the technology development growing up very fast in the past decades, around 2025 the humanoids robots will probably be arriving into our markets.

Marshall predicts that by 2055 humanoid robots will replace over half of workers in the USA, and the American economy is going to be worst with the high level of unemployed. He also affirms that following the Moore’s Law which says that “CPU power doubles every 18 to 24 months or so” by 2050 we are going to see a $1.000 super home computer with the same memory of human beings. Along this process of development there are many kinds of jobs which are going to be occupied by robots leaving humans without their jobs, such as pilots. The use of robots can obviously eliminate the risk of mistakes, and avoid accidents on many jobs. The only problem is that robots will probably take almost all human jobs leaving them unemployed, and the economy of the country completely devastated.

How the economy is going to work if people do not have money to spend? That is the main part of the huge problem that Marshall is predicting. There is not a way to deal with a country’s economy in which half of the population in unemployed. Some people believe that the economy is going to create new jobs to help unemployed people. However, it brings two important questions to everyone mind: what kind jobs will be created and why they are not creating new jobs right now on the actual circumstances of unemployment in the country. People work to get pay and survive; it is a simple cycle which ends on the robotic revolution. There isn’t a way to acquire money if people cannot work; it means that those people cannot participate in the America economy.

The “Robotic Revolution” is a great advancement of the technology which shows that humans are able to grow up even more. However people should analyze very well the results of that revolution which is going to completely devastate the country’s economy throughout the highest level of unemployment ever seen.